Histiophryne cryptacanthus

Cryptic Frogfish / Rodless Frogfish - Verborgener Anglerfisch

Histiophryne cryptacanthus
(Cryptic or Rodless Frogfish) is quite broadly distributed but since
the frogfish is so small and cryptic, it is seldom seen by divers.
This frogfish is found in the following diving areas: in southern
Australia, for example around Edithburgh, Mac Donnel Sound but lives
also in the Southeast
Asia.

Characteristics - Histiophryne cryptacanthus - Merkmale

Illicium
and Esca:
Very small illicium (rod) and tiny esca, nearly always hidden in
a groove which lies about on the midline of snout anterior to eyes.
Esca (lure, bait) very small.Additional Characteristics:
The second and third dorsal spines are bound down to the head by
skin, so only low protuberances can be made out. Special Behavior:
They hide their cluster of eggs (about 120 eggs, measuring 3-4mm)
in a pocket formed by the pectoral fin and the tail (see photo
and reference
p. 361).

More Information:
Link to fishbase
/ Pietsch
& Grobecker p. 255. It would be interesting to know, if
this frogfish shows a similar behavior to another nearly rodless
frogfish, Histiophryne psychedelica, which blocks off the entrance to holes or crevices
and thus entraps its prey inside.Can be confused with:Histiophryne cryptacanthus (Cryptic or Rodless Frogfish)
can easily be confused with Histiophryne
bougainvilli, the only obvious difference is the length
of the illicium. Histiophryne cryptacanthus has a longer
illicium.
Another species of Histiophryne was found in Queensland.
This species has a slightly larger esca: Histiophryne
maggiewalker

Size - Histiophryne cryptacanthus - Grösse

Colors - Histiophryne cryptacanthus - Farben

Skin color very different from light pink to cream, white
with some greenish blotches.

Some have small orange to brown close-set ocelli with
a white margin all over their body (see further
down).

This frogfish also shows a variation with a honeycomb
pattern (see separate page).
Frogfishes with this pattern might to be a different species.
The honeycomb pattern looks like the patterns on stony
corals and formed by tunicates.

Juveniles - Antennarius pictus - Jungtiere

The juvenile form of Histiophryne cryptacanthus has green spots and green blotches behind
the legs and when it opens its mouth it looks like a tunicate
(Didemnum molle). This frogfish has been found on coral
rubble with sea squirts (see Videos No1 / No2 - large files!). But the patterns of the skin look also
like the structures on hard coral.